Washington Conservation Commission
Minutes- November 16, 2005
Assembly time: 7:00 PM.
Present: Carol Andrews, Mike Andrews, Nan Schwartz, Jed Schwartz, Mark Cummings, and Tom Taylor.
1.0 Approval of Minutes: approved as printed, motion by Mike, seconded by Jed.
2.0 Old Business:
2.1 Dredge and Fill Committee- Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary of St. Benedict Center Inc. received a non-site specific wetlands permit from the state and the state sent us a copy of the permit. No other new business.
2.2 We received notice from Marv Jager of his resignation from the conservation commission due to a conflict with the Regional Planning Commission meeting and planning board matters Ð we send our many thanks to Marv for his support, time, and input.
2.3 WhatÕs happening in
nature? ? LOONS
HEAD FOR THE COAST
A warm summer's night on the shore of New Hampshire's larger lakes wouldn't be
the same without the forlorn wail of a loon. It's hard to imagine these lakes
in silence, but they are, for months at a time, when the loons leave each fall.
Our loons will soon become silent sentinels of the sea, as the storm-tossed
Atlantic will be their home for the winter. Based on a few bird band returns
and radio telemetry studies, we know that New Hampshire's loons winter along coastal
waters from Maine to the Chesapeake Bay.
The Loon Preservation Committee's preliminary 2005 numbers show that New
Hampshire has 203 territorial pairs of loons and a total of 496 adult loons,
about the same as last year. This year's nesting was affected by wet weather in
late spring and early summer, and the number of loon chicks hatched (141) and
chicks surviving through mid-August (111) were lower than usual.
This time of year, loons fade away from our lakes along with the disappearing
daylight. First the adults move toward the coast, followed by their young in a
few weeks. Loons are common and easily spotted along our coast all winter long.
Not only are their voices muted for the winter months, but so, too, is their
beautiful summer plumage. Over the winter, the brilliantly white and
olive-colored birds will become black-and-white silhouettes against the dark
Atlantic waters. -- Eric Orff, wildlife biologist
(Learn more about loons at the Loon Preservation CommitteeÕs website: www.loon.org.)
3.0 Natural Resource Inventory: Carol sent the Request for Proposal that she, with the help of others, has been working on to SPNHF for comment. We reviewed and commented on the finished RFP and a vote to accept and send it out for bids was unanimous. It is being sent out by email and post on Thursday (the 17th) with deadlines of December 1st for bids, with work to begin on January 1, 2006 and finished by January 1, 2007. We hope to get good response and bids that fit our budgeted amount. Jed wondered if the budgeted amount was enough to get all the things we want done. If we need to we can break the NRI work into two phases, with the maps and fieldwork done separately. We will get together to review bids and make the decision immediately after the 1st.
4.0 New Business: We received a proposed land donation for a waterfront lot in LAE that has been declared unbuildable. The big question is: would we (the town) have to pay the association fee if we retained a lot in LAE? We will look into the fee matter.
5.0 Correspondence
Receipts from abutter notification from Russell Johnson
Local Government Center Publications Catalog
DES Wetlands & non-site specific permit for the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary of St. Benedict Center, Inc.
Geo World
Lakeside- NH Lakes Association Quarterly Newsletter
Comprehensive Environmental
6.0 Other Business - None
7.0 Adjourned at 8:35 p.m., our next scheduled meeting is December 21st at 7 p.m. at the Town Hall
Respectfully submitted,
Nan Schwartz
Secretary